Development Delays

All children learn and develop at different rates. You know your child best. If you see that your child is experiencing a language or reading problem, it's important that you talk to your child's doctor or teacher about your concerns and get help if needed.

Here are a few things to look for:

Age 1 to 18 Months

At 12 months, your child doesn't use gestures such as waving or shaking her head and isn't practicing using at least a couple of consonants (p, b, etc.).

At 15 months, your child doesn't understand and respond to words such as “no” and “bye-bye” and can't say at least one to three words.

At 16 months, your child doesn't point to body parts when asked.

At 18 months, your child isn't saying at least 15 words.

Age 18 Months to Age 2

By 19 to 20 months, your child isn't pointing out things of interest, such as a bird or airplane overhead and isn't making at least six consonant sounds.

By 21 months, your child doesn't respond to simple directions.

By 24 months, your child doesn't imitate actions or words of others, can't point to named pictures in a book, and doesn't know the function of common household objects - toothbrush, telephone, fork, etc.

Age 2 to Age 3

At 26 months, your child uses no two-word simple sentences.

At 30 months, your child can't name at least three body parts and can't be understood by anyone in her family.

Age 3 to Age 5

At age 3, your child doesn't ask questions and can't be understood by strangers at least half the time.

At age 3, your child can't speak in short phrases, is unable to understand short instructions, has no interest in interacting with other children, and has extreme difficulty separating from a parent.

At age 4, your child still stutters (has true difficulty producing a sound or word) frequently, often accompanied by facial grimacing.

At age 5, your child doesn't show that he understands that spoken words can be broken down into smaller words, for example the word big in bigger.

At age 5, your child doesn't understand that you can change a small part of a word to make different words. For example, by changing the first sound and letter of cat, you can make hat, sat, bat, rat, etc.